# Dogs that can smell an epileptic seizure?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-that-can-smell-an-epileptic-seizure/427874
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 27, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-that-can-smell-an-epileptic-seizure/427874 "2007-11-27T03:04:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-that-can-smell-an-epileptic-seizure/427874/1 "2007-11-27T03:04:42Z")
This got thrown at me today. At first glance is sounds silly but there might be something to it.
Is it true that a severe epileptic could own a dog trained to smell or feel an oncoming seizure, giving the owner time to act before the seizure happens?
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-that-can-smell-an-epileptic-seizure/427874/2 "2007-11-27T03:15:18Z")
IIRC, not all dogs are capable of detecting an oncoming seizure (in fact, most probably can’t), but yet, it certainly is possible, and Seizure-Alert dogs are used much as a blind or otherwise handicapped person would use a service dog. Actually, I think most service dogs of this type are primarily trained to supervise/guard a person during a seizure, and perhaps obtain help after one, but not specifically to alert the person that they are about to have a seizure, though I’m sure that does happen, to some extent. I don’t know if the warning would ever be sufficiently early to prevent a seizure, but it might allow the person time to sit/lie down to avoid injury.
> **[Seizure response dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_response_dog)**
>
> A seizure response dog (SRD) (also known as seizure dog) is a dog demonstrating specific assisting behaviour during or immediately after a person's epileptic seizure or other seizure. When reliably trained such dogs can serve as service dogs for people with epilepsy.
> Tasks for seizure dogs may include, but are not limited to:
> A dog demonstrating specific behaviour prior to a person's epileptic seizure is also referred to as seizure alert dog (SAD). Reports suggest that some dogs can be trained...
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### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-that-can-smell-an-epileptic-seizure/427874/3 "2007-11-27T03:16:05Z")
Do a Google search for “seizure alert dog” (in quotes) and you’ll get thousands of hits. [Here](http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1084289240) is a well-balanced article written by the Senior Editor at [Epilepsy.com](http://Epilepsy.com).